The shape of the new Pontiac G8 is exactly what it should be. Muscular but smooth, and not overkill. It's a body that will appeal to both sexes and pretty much all ages: men and women, boys and girls. Unmistakably a Pontiac, especially from the front, with the signature split grille and hood scoops, no big bulges, just tidy slits. The grille looks good, with chrome trapezoids around black crate. There's a wide split air intake, also in black, at the bottom of the front fascia; with the nicely angled headlamps and front fender flares, everything is perfectly balanced and just aggressive enough.

In the fenders behind the front wheels, there's another opening. On the left side is an air intake, while the right side is merely there to match the left.

The roofline is sweeping enough to disguise the fact that there are four doors, and the hips lift but aren't as high as they might be, and the spoiler is tidy. The Pontiac G8 GT uses clear taillight lenses, and has four polished exhaust tips, the G8 red with two.

One wonders why GM doesn't try harder to design better looking wheels. The G8's twin five-spoke 18-inchers (painted aluminum) look better than the G8 GT's five-spokes (brushed aluminum), and the optional 19-inch wheels aren't that much better. A killer set of wheels will cause the G8 to turn heads, which might not happen without help.

There isn't a lot of difference between the G8 interior and the standard cloth interior in the G8 GT, which adds a leather-wrapped four-spoke steering wheel with optional sound, cruise, and Driver Information Center controls. There's a bit less of the brushed aluminum-look trim in the G8, not that there's too much in the G8 GT.

The seats are comfortable, adjustable four ways in the G8 and six ways in the G8 GT. Our test model had the optional leather seats, and they were good-looking in black. The seats hold you tightly enough for sporty driving, although if you start playing Juan Pablo Montoya (this car can handle it, even if you can't), you'll feel a need for more bolstering. But if there were more, the car's appeal would narrow.

The instrumentation is good, although not without flaws. There's a digital battery and oil pressure gauge in the center of the dash that's unattractive and not particularly useful, and the digital transmission gear indicator is too small to read.

The speedometer and tachometer are big enough, easy to read, and appropriate to the performance character of the Pontiac G8.

The power window buttons are located between the seats, and we like them there. The emergency brake handle has been designed not to take up space, and it can be a grab handle, and that works too. The grab handles over the doors fit the hand and provide good leverage.

There's decent legroom in the rear seat, because this is a real sedan. The driveshaft tunnel doesn't intrude too much. There are heating and A/C vents back there, in the rear doors, where there are also speakers and good pockets, and front seatbacks have nets. The access to the trunk is wide.